Business confidence index rebounds in Q1: central bank

BEIJING — Business confidence among Chinese entrepreneurs rebounded in the first quarter of the year after falling for two quarters consecutively, according to a central bank survey.

The entrepreneur confidence index climbed to 69.2 from 67.8 in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the index in the first quarter dropped by 5.1 percentage points from the same period of last year, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

Another PBOC survey showed bankers’ confidence in the economy also improved in the first quarter.

The bankers’ confidence index rose to 70.1 from 68.5 in the previous quarter, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, the credit demand index increased to 70.4 from 63 in the previous quarter, reflecting companies’ stronger needs for bank loans, according to the PBOC.